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Jimmy is mentioned in J. Gen Genovese's book We Flew Without Guns, page 193. Summer 2015 - I have heard from the family of Jimmy Mar who have provided the following information and photos:   The Mar's couple at their wedding.  Louise Mar with her father and mother. From Lydia Yuan the daughter of CNAC Captain T.Y. Chan -- The photos above and the following information were obtained from Louise Mar (Jimmy Mar's daughter) Jimmy Mar 馬發祥 (1908-1946) Hump Pilot, Captain of CNAC (19??-19??) I also included a scanned page from the Chinese booklet of the Hump Pilot which was edited by my cousin 陳紹曾. He did an extensive research of the Chinese Hump pilots. Jimmy Mar was one of the earliest Hump pilots and received an award from the Dept of Transportation of China. Please read my scanned page. Thanks!  Tom, Here is the photo and more information about Jimmy Mar. If you need more information, please let me know. Lydia 
Jimmy Mar's photo was taken in China (place & date??). He sent it to his good friend Charlie in Fort Worth, Texas. After many years later, Louise Mar (Jimmy's daughter) went to visit Charlie in Texas, he gave this photo to Louise. This photo is the most precious and the only one Louise has, with her father in uniform & next to an airplane he flew. We tried to find out Charlie's last name. As soon as we find it, I will email it to you. The information below was from Louise Mar, Jimmy Mar’s daughter. Jimmy Mar was born in台山, China. When he was 11 years old, his father brought him to to Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A. and he was educated there. After graduation, he helped his father to manage the restaurant but he was not interested in restaurant business. So he secretly learned how to fly an airplane and obtained his license . He returned to China in 1939 around the beginning of world War ll. He joined CNAC about the same time. He married his wife 孔慶威 1941 in Hong Kong. They had three daughters. 馬捷生( Louise Mar), 馬凱生 & 馬美生. After the Pearl Harbor incidence, CNAC asked all the pilots flew their airplanes to Chunking. Jimmy Mar and my father T.Y. Chan met there and became good friends. After the war, they continued to fly for CNAC and met their fate in airplane crash separately in China. It was strange that they flew so many Hump missions safely and yet had the accident in peace time. It was really sad.  Click here for a larger version Hi Tom, How are you? I am forwarding an old newspaper scan (see above) about how Louise obtained her father's photo (the one I sent to you). She got it in 1974 from Edwin W. Ritchey, her father's flying instructor in Ft Worth, Texas. In the photo of Jimmy Mar, he wrote "to his pal Charlie", probably Charlie L. Sharp. Jimmy served as interpreter for Charlie while they were in China. During the communist took over China, the family had to destroy everything of Jimmy Mar, afraid his connection with US would get them in trouble. This photo is the only picture Louise Mar has of her father. This is a real moving story of the Hump pilot and their family. I hope you will enjoy reading it. About our father accidents: After the war, they were working for CATC (Centra Air Transport CO) in China. Due to the bad weather and heavy fog, they were perished in the airplane accidents in 1946 : Jimmy Mar's trip from Nanking to Shanghai and my father's trip to 漢口. I was five years old and Louise was four at that time. Somehow those memories were as fresh as 75 years ago to us. If you have any more questions, I will try my best to answer you. Take care! Lydia P.S. I check the CNAC website periodically, they still block it and say it is unsafe. Is there any way I can see the material you wrote about Jimmy Mar and my father T.Y Chan without getting in the CNAC website? Thanks. P.S. To Lydia - November 21, 2021 - It's all clear now. Thanks again for all your help. Tom  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |
